Apparatus and method responsive to the on-board measuring of haulage parameters of a vehicle

An apparatus comprising:

• a user input device on-board a haulage vehicle for entering information identifying an operator of the vehicle and associating the information to a first portion of a memory;
• a first sensor for providing signals indicative of a hauling status of the haulage vehicle;
• a processor responsive to the sensor and the user input for storing at a first portion of the memory data derived from the signals indicative of the hauling status;
• means for detecting a change of the operator of the vehicle and associating a second portion of the memory to a new operator;
• and the processor including means responsive to the detection of the new operator by routing data derived from the signals indicative of the hauling status of the vehicle to the second portion of the memory;
• and a second sensor mounted to the vehicle for determining a location of the vehicle.

An apparatus for use with a haulage vehicle, the apparatus comprising:

• a processor in communication with a memory;
• an input device for generating information identifying an operator of the vehicle and communicating the information to the processor;
• a sensor for providing information regarding a performance parameter of the vehicle and communicating that information to the processor;
• the processor including means for storing into the memory values of the performance parameter and indexing the values to the information identifying the operator of the vehicle;
• a sensor for detecting a location of the vehicle;
• and a transmitter for transmitting the location of the vehicle to a fixed site.

A method for monitoring a haulage vehicle comprising the steps of:

• identifying an operator of the vehicle;
• recording the identity of the operator of the vehicle;
• resolving a location of the vehicle from a land or satellite-based positioning system;
• communicating a vehicle identification code and the location of the vehicle to a remote site;
• monitoring the location of the vehicle at the remote site;
• and generating a secondary communication link between the remote site and the vehicle.